Nobody's Perfect
by Baboo88
Summary: Zoe finds love, Psymon has a secret, Allegra meets Nate and Elise feels the pressure. As a new SSX circuit unfolds, see how the characters react to their life problems through the ups and downs, building friendships and rivalries along the way.
1. We Belong Together

CHAPTER 1 We belong together

"Man, I'm so excited!" Zoë Gasped, failing to keep her joy a secret.  
"I know, luv, to see everyone 'gain, to see how everyone's changed, to see you again, it's all great." Stated her best friend Moby. Moby and Zoe had known each other for a long time, ever since the beginning of ssx. They were sister and brother like none other, they were protective of one-another, knew everything there was to know about the other and could always tell when something was wrong as well as know what to do to help. Through his lime green shades Moby spotted someone entering the lodge, which was slowly being filled with newly-arrived participants and their massive loads of luggage,   
"an' you must be glad to see that bloke 'gain!" he said with a big smile  
Zoë turned around and saw _him_… she had waited so long for _him_, all she thought about was _him_, in her dreams all she could see was_ him _and here he was once again on the ssx circuit… _him_, with his muscular body, his insane hairstyles, his sexy tattoos and his eyes as pure as spring water. Zoë's heart skipped a beat, it was _HIM_!

"Psymon Stark?" Said a woman near the door, an employee for the events, in an annoyed manner.  
"Yeah…" He answered in an almost worried voice seeing the overweight greasy-haired man-ish woman with humongous glasses, bad breath and a hairy upper-lip.  
The woman checked her list and gave him some keys as well as some forms to fill out.  
Zoë couldn't keep her eyes off him, needless to say the girl was in love in every sense of the term, she stood there in trance and would simply watch his every move, she watched as he sat down, got up, looked frantically for a pen, realized he had one in his hand, sat down again, started filling out the form, cursed as he made a mistake in his name, reading the ques……

"HEY!" she objected in a loud tone as Moby awaked her from her never-ending gaze.  
"Sorry, luv, but I thought we were gonna lose you, you know, I don't know why you don't just go over there and talk to him…"  
"_are you nuts?_ What if he thinks I'm a loser or something!" She hissed in an I-can't-believe-you voice.  
"Your not a loser, but one day you will have to tell him that you like him to find out if he has feelings for you too. There's lots of time for that now that everyone's back, now, I want you to forget about him for a second and help me keep my temper down, Mac's coming and you know how I hate his guts."  
-hey dawgs!

More and more people arrived at the lodge with their belongings. As they chatted away, drank hot chocolate, recaped what had happened to each-other while they were gone and got the know the "new guys", hairy-upper-lip-woman stared at the mountain of luggage that was awaiting her. Truly in awe at the amount of junk these kids had brought along, she called in re-enforcements, Bob and Kathy from peak 2…

Throughout the luggage she spotted some interesting bags… An expensive set of Louis Vuitton that belonged to Supermodel Elise Riggs, Canadian blonde bombshell who was loaded beyond belief , she thought she was better than everyone else, and was "almost" right to think so, since she was "almost" perfect. There were a set of bright pink bags with pandas on them as well as a bear-shaped backpack that couldn't have belonged to anyone but Kaori Nishidaki, the stereotypical Japanese schoolgirl who was sweet, energetic and had a fatal attraction to anything relatively cute. A set of leather bags with embroidered flowers and red silk scarves on the handles belonged to Marisol Diaz Delgado, sexy Latina chica from Venezuela, the girl had the beauty of an orchid, the charm of spring lilacs and was as exotic as the most beautiful of lilies.The woman then spotted some duffle bags with marker designs on them and with them, a throng of guitars, property of Allegra Sauvagess the cute but tough tomboy that won't let anyone mess with her. She was a new boarder this season and was ready to have a blast. She looked at all these bags and deeply wished to be young, beautiful and talented as she looked back at her so-so life.

on that note, Hairy-upper-lip-lady finaly got her helpers on duty and as they started to load luggage onto the truck, one bag fell in the snow, a black one with plaid accents who belonged to Zoë Payne. This Girl was different. She was always an outsider with the other girls; she fit in better with the tough crowd. Misunderstood and rejected by "pretty girls" all her life, she would do strange things to gain attention: painting stripes on her face, weird haircuts, tattoos, and so on….She would be pointed out constantly as a freak.

The competitors acted civilized throughout the night's discussions, although some tensions existed between them… for one night everyone had become friends, in a fake soon-to-change way.  
Everyone was paired up for a room: Moby and Psymon, Elise and Allegra, Nate (a fairly quiet newcomer) and Mac, Zoë and Marisol, and other teamed up competitors. Only Kaori had a room alone

Later that night Kaori had a request for Zoë, She looked outside her room's door to she the Japanese girl  
"Um, giggles Zoë… Could you do me a favor? Um, could you switch rooms with me? giggles your with Marisol and I'd really like to share a room with her, OK? giggles"  
"But they already moved all our stuff!" Zoë protested, thinking how unpleasant it would be to move all of her numerous belongings elsewhere.  
"Please!" The girl insisted with a voice as sweet as sugar, with a touch of "don't say no I'll be heartbroken" and a zest of "I hope she doesn't figure our plan out"  
Zoë stuck her head out of the room to see that Kaori had already brought her Pepto-Bismol luggage in front of the door.  
"Fine, whatever" she was just about to go to bed and now her new task had presented itself, she was really tired, not in the mood to be moving stuff around and was really pissed off

Zoë brought her stuff to the complete other end of the building to her new unoccupied room. She sat on the edge of the bed and figured that this was probably all Marisol's plan to get away from her. Why the hell did everyone hate her? "FUCK!" She yelled out.  
Psymon, who was passing in the hallway, heard this, and decided to investigate.

"What's wrong, eh?"

Zoë immediately turned bright red and said "oh woops sorry hehehe". 

Eyebrows raised, Psymon left with Zoë giving him an OK sign. With that short but wonderful visit Zoë forgot about all those girls that disliked her and feeling truly exhausted, the boarder laid down and went to bed feeling warm and cozy inside.

end of chapter one


	2. La Tortura

Chapter 2 La Tortura

The next morning Patsy and Kelly-Lee stood motionless. The two maids were stunned seeing the sight of what they were ordered to clean up. The night before, the rooms were relatively clean, for the exception of a paper or two in the garbage can or a sweater on the bed.  
_This_ was pure chaos.  
Chips in the beds, t-shirts in the sink, bras on the TVs, towels hanging out the window, boxers on doorknobs, lamps knocked over, broken picture frames, broken mini-bar bottles, broken water balloons and clothes… clothes! E-ve-ry-where! Not to mention the massive luggage with guitars and game cubes and Frisbees and dart boards and anything else you can imagine. (The two swear they found a kitchen sink under Psymon's bed.)

All the competitors had awakened and were having breakfast. They were psyched and they had a good reason to be… today was the first race of the season. Nate, Elise, Allegra, Moby, Mac and Psymon were to be at the starting point of Snow Jam in an hour. after eating, getting dressed, getting their board from the shack and making final preparations for the race, the six of them hopped on the gondola to reach their spot on peak one…

Allegra was the new girl on the circuit. She didn't know much about the other competitors, only what the rest of the world did, watching them on television. She looked at the four males trying to weld an early opinion of these quasi-strangers. First there was Mac Frazier, he was a loud big mouth, cocky as can be, who looked like an extra from a rap video. All he did last night was brag about his career in boarding and in music. Next was Moby Jones, a smart and sweet guy with a clash of funky euro style: psychedelic sunglasses, colourful jerseys, dreads and bling. Not her style at all, but it suited him. She them lied her eyes on Psymon Stark. This guy had the stare of a serial killer and the body of a weightlifter, the clothing style of a convict and the hairstyle of a superstar. She caught a glimpse of his chain tattoo which looped around his arm several times and found it very original. The fourth guy, Nate Logan, was one she had never seen on TV, he must have been new as well. His head was shaved... and aside from that... noting really stood out about him. But at a certain angle he almost looked like Elmer Fudd. Allegra found that last fact hilarious and let out an eruption of laughter. The other participants immediately turned around to see Allegra with her head sideways… she blushed and felt unbelievably stupid.

"Great Allegra! Make them all think your retarded on your first day! Way to go." She thought to herself.

A minute passed by in absolute silence until Elise stood up with her jaw almost on the ground…

"THAT BITCH!"She yelled out.

The competitors turned around to see a billboard depicting Marisol to promote the new Honda Element.  
"I was supposed to do that shoot and they told me they wouldn't need me!" screamed the outraged canuck."Oh there's gonna be hell to pay, people!"With that, she sat back down, furious.  
She couldn't believe it, why was she sent back only so the offer would go to that latin bimbo? How could that have happened? Elise always got all the publicity offers!  
She could hardly believe the situation. As unimportant as it would seem to someone else, this was an absolutely devastating affair.

The gondola ended its journey to the track and the competitors stepped out. Last minute preparations took place and then the boarders took place and then the competitors lined up, waiting for the start signal, for a moment all was forgotten, all of feeling stupid, all devastation, all Mr. Fudd impersonation, completely forgotten. The only thing found here was pure concentration in all six athletes. 

the green light finally lit up…

end of chapter 2


	3. First

Chapter 3 First

Time seemed to have stopped. Fans roared with appreciation as the boarders zoomed through the gates like bats out of hell. In no time at all Snow Jam had become pure chaos.

Elise tumbled over Psymon after being shoved by Moby, after which Psymon got his revenge by throwing a nice-sized round snowball that collided with Moby's head, and Mac pushed Allegra in front of tree. As the snow from the tree fell mechanically on the new competitor, she started to realize just how tough ssx would be. The only one that didn't seem to be having problems was Nate as he was far ahead of everyone else. "Who is this guy?" the vets thought to themselves being beaten by the newcomer. "There's no way I'm gonna be beat by Americana boy!" Psymon thought and immediately picked up the pace, being closely followed by Moby, Elise, Mac and a very snowy Allegra, struggling to keep up.

The group of five kept close the whole race with Nate nowhere to be found as tripping and shoving and cursing and pushing and fighting followed the whole way down the track. Allegra had kept up with the pack and was even able to leave her last place position, Psymon was still leading the pack knocking down anyone who tried to come too close and Elise followed him everywhere, avoiding his attacks. Behind them where Mac and Moby Battling furiously

In the stands at the end of the track, amongst the screaming fans delighted to get their dose of ssx action, sat Kaori and Zoë watching the Jumbo-tron, taking in the violent struggle for first. They didn't miss a thing, from Allegra throwing a tree branch at Moby, to Elise taking the lead, to Psymon pushing Mac off a ledge, who fell head first into the snow.

"Did you see that! He hurt my Mackie!" The Japanese girl shouted with extreme worry and anger in her voice. Then, Zoë replied in a very soft "in-love trance" manner: "Yeah…". She found it slightly odd that the other girl called Mac "her Mackie", she concluded that the rumors of the two being romantically linked had some truth behind them. She then thought about herself, and if anyone had found out she had a thing for psycho-boy, other than Moby of course, who knew since the beginning of time. She never had to point those kinds of things out; Moby always knew when something was going on. And not only with her, he was the kind of guy that could sense things, when people were in trouble, when people were in love, when people needed help, he could always tell. Zoë smiled to herself and was thankful to have such a good friend there for her… 

Suddenly, awaking Zoë from her thoughts, out of nowhere, arrived Nate, crossing the finish line winning the first place title. The crowd gawked for a short while at the boarder who seemed to appear from thin air. After the silence of incomprehension came a triumphant roar of applause and screaming. The crowd had been so focused on the impressive battle between the other five that they almost forgot Nate, who was leading since the beginning.

Elise could hear the crowd; the feeling of the raw energy from the crowd gave her an extra push as she, closely followed by the other competitors, grew closer to the finish. The excitement was too much for her. She could see the arch, she could see the podium, she could see… "NATE! DAMMIT!", They all thought. Still, there were two other medals up for grab. The group gave it their all, punching, shoving, pushing until Elise and Psymon finally crossed the elusive archway getting them silver and bronze.

As soon as she saw Psymon come in third, Zoë stood up and screamed at the top of her lungs as did the massive crowd. Kaori, on the other hand, unimpressed, left the stand to greet Mac and his bleeding nose. 

That night at about 7 o'clock, Allegra was on a hunt. She searched through the hallways, looked in every room and peeked into the kitchen but her target was nowhere to be found. Discouraged, she slowly moved her tired and aching body to the lodge lounge where she finally found what she was looking for, A 6'2" boy who conquered at anything "xbox".  
As he saw her enter the lounge, he turned off the black and green machine and smiled

"Hi." He said  
"Hi, can I sit here?"  
"Sure!" He answered.  
She then sat down and the two started discussing their day, flirting now and then.  
"You really impressed me today, you know" Allegra admitted. "What's your secret?"  
"Well I don't really have a secret… I just practiced a lot I suppose. And as for my victory, you better get used to it, cause it's gonna happen more that once!" The boy answered  
"I never expected it to be so tough, just dodging attacks was a real workout!"  
"You don't have to dodge them when your ahead of the pack" He stated in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.  
"Oh well ex-cu-s-s-s-e me!" She answered "I suppose it's not as tough when you don't get shoved into a tree!" She got shivers just thinking of all that snow going down her jacket.

The fireplace lit up the room romantically as the two looked into each other's eyes passionately. She found him to be very seducing once you got to know him. Nate was highly attracted to her and the two of them, slowly, got closer and closer, Allegra tilted her head as Nate leaned in for a kiss, unexpected but very welcome for both of them, it was the perfect setting, the fire, the cozy couch, the huge windows with a starry mountain scene. Opening her eyes with Nate inches from her face, she immediately roared with laughter leaving Nate scratching his head, wanting an explanation.

"Way to ruin the mood." he laughed.  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she answered "It's just that…" she couldn't finish her sentence as she was laughing uncontrollably.   
"What, what is it?" He asked.  
She turned bright red as she looked him in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face, and answered: "You look like Elmer Fudd!"  
"OH GREAT!" He belted sarcastically, making Allegra laugh even more   
"The scary thing is your not the first person to tell me that…" He said while laughing  
Allegra now felt a bit better, she had finally controled her laughter  
"…You wascally wabbit"  
Allegra burst out laughing once more.  
"Is that why you were laughing on the gondola?" He asked.  
"Yeah." She admitted with a smile.  
"I see." He answered in a flirty tone.

The two continued their discussion into the night, but to the disappointment of both, there where no more romantic attempts. Elsewhere in the building, however, there were other things going on… 

end of chapter 3


	4. Venus As A Boy

Chapter 4 Venus as A Boy

The boys in room 306 were back from a night out clubbing. Psymon was getting ready to go to bed wearing his Oscar the grouch Pajama bottoms as he looked at Moby who was coming out of the shower, wearing only a towel.

"Can you believe that Logan guy? He just disappears and _POOF_ he ends up at the finish line in first place!" Said Psymon for the seventh time since the race

Moby slipped on his favorite superman boxers and though he was sick of Psymon pointing it out, he had to agree.

"I know, mate, I know, but that's the past now so forget it…" He answered

Moby's stomach let out a monstrous sound, and so he decided to go get a snack. As he was going out the door, Psymon yelled out "Hold on! I'm coming too". The men made their way down to the kitchen, half-dressed, being stared down heavily by the maids.  
When they arrived at their destination Psymon sat down at the kitchen table silently and Moby searched the cabinets for anything edible. The two main cooks in the group were Kaori and Marisol, they both had exceptional culinary talents. Specialties were spicy burritos and sushi. Unfortunately nobody had gone grocery shopping lately so the only things to be found in the building were oddly large quantities of rice and tortillas. Moby looked dully at the box of Minute Rice and asked in a monotone voice: "Rice sound ok?" Psymon was disgusted at the thought of another bowl of rice…"Yeah…" He answered.

The whole time the water boiled and the rice cooked, not one word was said. Complete silence filled the room. The only thing making noise was the wall clock and the bubbling water. The two tired boys looked at the floor, waiting…

when the food was ready Moby handed a plate to Psymon, and then served himself. He then sat down, facing his roommate.

"How is it?" He asked.  
"Don't quit your day-job" Psymon answered.  
"Oh come on, it can't be that b…"  
He spit the mouthful out into the trash can. "Yuck… Guess I'll leave the rice to Kaori next time."  
Psymon said nothing.

Moby looked at Psymon quietly and then in a low voice asked:

"What is it you wanna tell me?"  
Psymon looked up at him strangely. "Eh?... I don't have anything to tell you…"  
"Oh come on, you didn't follow me down here and then wait 15 minutes to eat crappy rice for nothing." He was right.

At that moment Mac had come down to get his Dr.Pepper he had left in the fridge. When he realized the other two guys were talking, he secretly stood by the door, listening to their conversation.

"You can tell me if theirs something wrong Psymon, I'm your mate, you can talk to me about whatever you want." Said Moby. His sixth sense told him something was bothering the Canadian boarder.  
"There's nothing wrong, ok?"  
Moby's face had disbelief plastered all over it.  
Psymon looked at Moby's face and realizing he wasn't going to escape without talking, so, he opened up.  
"I… I think.." Psymon started…  
Moby looked at Psymon, waiting for him to finish, and noticed he seemed very, very, vulnerable.  
In the lowest possible voice, he said:  
"I think I might be… gay."

Moby was not as surprised as he thought he would be, he looked into Psymon's blue eyes and saw ultimate sincerity. This was no joke, and Moby knew it. Psymon always made stupid comments about people, making others laugh, and he was never serious. But tonight, Moby saw a different Psymon, one that very few people knew about. What first popped into Moby's head was Zoë, she was gonna flip. How could he tell her? She would be devastated. But he then figured it wasn't his job to tell people Psymon was gay. It concerned Psymon and not him. He figured it would be best not to hurt Zoe; he wouldn't be able to look at himself in the mirror if he rained on her parade. The second thing that popped into his mind was that he was nearly naked! He felt a bit uncomfortable but it would soon pass, he supposed. The third thing was how Psymon was dancing with that girl in the club… 

"But weren't you getting pretty close to that red-head?" Moby said after his mind had settled.  
"Well that's the thing; I'm not 100 sure… Girls are fun, and I've already been with a few of them, but when I see a good-looking guy I can't help but feel something."

A weird silence filled the room. Moby looked at Psymon without saying anything

"But, don't worry, eh, I don't have a crush on you or anything!" Psymon quickly said.  
"I didn't think so… but… you never know" Moby replied.

Once again the kitchen became silent.

"so, do you still like girls? You might be bi." Moby asked  
"well, maybe…" Though he didn't want to admit it, he knew he was gay, and had no desire of being with a girl. He was only denying who he was to himself, maintaining the hope of maybe he wasn't that way and it would pass. But it wouldn't. And he knew it.  
Why then did he answer maybe? He didn't even understand why himself. Cause he didn't want to let Moby down? Perhaps. But he knew he wasn't going to be able to change.

"And how long have you felt this way?" asked the brit  
"About a couple of years…"  
"Wow, really?" said Moby a bit surprised, as Psymon nodded. Moby thought back at the year before when he would comment on the girls' physique and Psymon would simply stare, nod and agree. Moby felt bad realizing Psymon had to fake staring at chicks so that others wouldn't think he was weird.

"Who else knows" asked Moby  
"Nobody, just you" Psymon answered, unaware he was wrong.  
"Sorry if I'm asking too many questions…"  
"No, its fine, it's nice to get this all off my chest" Psymon reassured him.  
"Ok mate, if you say so… but one last question"  
"What?" Psymon asked  
"Why the hell are you still eating that god-awful rice?"  
Psymon looked at his empty plate, then looked at Moby…  
"I dunno, my nerves got to me I guess."  
Moby gave Psymon a funny look and with that the two got up to leave. 

Meanwhile, Mac, who's lips were just burning to tell someone, was totally in shock, "Oh GAWD, Wait till I tell everyone! Oh man! I can't believe this shit" He thought with a devilish smile. He heard chairs moved and decided to get the heck out of there before someone saw him.

The two stuck the dirty dishes in the already overflowing sink and left back into their room for the night.

end of chapter 4


	5. Sweet Dreams

Chapter 5 Sweet Dreams

In a beautiful forest, with birds chirping and squirrels frolicking about, a white horse, who was perfectly groomed with ribbons in its mane, came walking down a dirt road lead by its master, Zoë. She was wearing a prim and proper floral dress that gave her an elegant allure. She arrived at a fork in the path, on one side, beautiful rainbows and butterflies and a unicorn! Wow! A unicorn! On the other side there was fire, dead trees and red satyrs with tridents. They looked dangerous. Zoë had to make a decision… hmmmm… But as she was deciding she heard someone sneaking up behind her. She looked around and saw a weird fellow on a black horse. Neat! She had never seen a horse with a mohawk before. The gentleman was wearing a gothic pinstriped suit and had eyeliner and black nail polish. He also had electric blue eyes and he starred at her with a grin. He was very handsome. "Can I take him home with me?" She asked herself innocently. He brought his red-eyed horse next to hers. "Which way are you going?" He asked her. She pointed towards the unicorn, which was running around with the butterflies and had changed his color from purple to orange. "What a pity…" He said, taking his horse down the other path. In deep sadness, she headed towards the rainbows asking herself why he didn't want to take the right path. She then looked up and turned around. With her horse galloping at top speed, she stepped into forbidden territory. Her dress changed into a black, lacy, spider-patterned gown. Her makeup was now goth-like and her horse, dark as night. She led the horse towards Psymon, but all he would do was escape her and run away. Everything started spinning and became blurry. She screamed out: "PSYMON,_ I WANT YOU_…" 

The radio came on at exactly 9 o'clock like it was programmed to do every morning.  
"_This is DJ Atomika with ssx competitor Nate Logan, taking your questions for the winner of yesterdays Snow Jam race. Line 1, you're on…_" 

And as the radio woke her up, she finished the rest of her sentence in a scream: "_...I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE HORNY PONY_!"

Zoë opened one eye… then the other… and she realized she was sitting up in her bed. She immediately felt ridiculous and turned beet-red hoping nobody heard her. She got out of bed, put on her favorite bat slippers and looked out the hall.

The coast was clear.

She then decided to take a shower. She turned on the water, and as it was heating up, she examined her face in the mirror, she thought about the dream she had.  
"Damn, Zoë, your dreams are cornier than porn flicks!" she said to her reflection. She stepped into the shower. Corny or not it was odd… But she didn't care, as long as Psymon was in it, she was happy. As she lathered her hair she pictured his beautiful face in front of hers. With his plump lips, and his sweet labret piercing, and his eyes! Oh my god those eyes! Enough to make a girl _melt!_

A squeaky clean Zoë stepped out of the shower and got dressed quickly, she was _starving_. She put on her plaid lace-up "Punks" with a black turtleneck sweater with a zipper on the side. Her hair still wet, she walked out the door heading towards the cafeteria. The cafeteria wasn't like the competitors kitchen, the kitchen was a place where competitors bought, stored, cooked and ate their own food, but the cafeteria sold food at meal times and the food there was usually good, but you had to keep your guard up anyways.  
She got eggs, ham, bacon, potatoes and some pineapple slices with a large glass of OJ. She stepped out of the Caff to see Elise and Allegra eating together as well as Moby and Psymon a little further. "Score!" She thought to herself as she headed towards them 

Moby, sitting facing Psymon, watched as Mac and Kaori approached them. The two were wondering what he wanted as Mac lowered his face next to Psymon's ear and whispered, with a large smile, ever so softly: 

"fag." 

The Boys eye's opened wide and Psymon went nuts as they watched a satisfied Mac walk away smiling with an "informed" Kaori who didn't seem to appreciate Mac's wise-guy act. Psymon looked at Moby and knew _he_ didn't tell Mac, they were together since last night.

"_What the hell!" _Psymon yelled out.  
"I don't know, mate"  
"What did he want?" asked Zoë as she sat down next to Moby.  
Zoe found it very strange how the guys were acting, they looked at each other. "Nothing, luv, you know Mac, he's an ass." Psymon was looking very worried; he was watching Mac like a hawk.  
"I don't get it." Psymon gasped holding his face in his hands, no longer touching his eggs.  
Zoë would have given anything to know what the hell was going on but she kept quiet.  
Trying to change the subject Moby asked: "So what's new with the pony whore?"  
Suddenly, the "pony whore" in question laughed so hard she had orange juice coming out of her nose.  
"OH MY GOD! You _heard_ that! _Oh my god!"_  
Zoe slowly turned red  
"I had a dream" She explained...  
"What was it about?" Asked Moby  
Zoe _quickly_ turned purple  
"um… a unicorn…" She said as she bit her lip.  
"Aha, well ok then" Moby said with a smile.  
"I'm going to lie down, I'm not feeling too good, ok?" Said Psymon as he got to his feet and left. The two watched without talking and continued their breakfast in silence ignoring what had just happened with Mac and all, which Zoë found extremely odd. Why wasn't Moby telling her what was going on, they were best friends!...

A few tables further, Kaori sat down with the other girls: Allegra, who was wolfing down sausages, and Elise who had her nose in a fashion mag.

All Elise could think about was Marisol in a bikini on the hood of the new car and how she should have been there in her place. The whole situation had her obsessed and she was constantly in pissed-off mode. 

She remembered it clearly: "Miss Riggs I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we won't be needing you for the shoot. We've changed our ad campaign and we're going in a new direction. Have a nice day." Said the fake, sugar-coated voice on her answering machine.

Tired of being ignored, Kaori broke the silence by saying: "Whatcha reading Elise?" Elise lowered her copy of _Elle_ and looked at Kaori with an are-you-dumb? expression..  
"It's called a _magazine_, eh!… duh!…." The Canadian coldly replied. She then turned her attention back to the book thinking: "…And I used to be in them."  
"Well I see that! No need to be mean." Kaori pointed out.

Allegra and Kaori switched game plans for the day. As there weren't any events, they decided to get to know Metro-city a little better.  
"You coming Elise?" Allegra asked the blonde  
"Sure, just hold on a sec., I need to go to the bathroom"  
When she returned, the three girls left the lodge to get their boards and get ready for some city boarding.

end of chapter 5


	6. I Feel Love

Chapter 6 I Feel Love

At the top of Metro-city a competitive Allegra looks at Elise and Kaori, Kaori looks at Elise, and then Allegra again. Then, Allegra slowly counts down: "3,… 2,…1,…GO!"  
The three girls instantly took off to explore the city and its shortcuts. It looked completely different during the day; Elise didn't recognize the path she took the first time she went down. Allegra was ahead of the others, although she didn't know it, as they all went separate ways. She looked behind her and saw no one.

In what seemed like no time, she had arrived at the bottom of the mountain, at the finish line, before the other two. She looked around and saw no other sign of life, but as she stared into the cityscape to see if she could spot the other girls, she heard a muffled: "Hey!" 

Scared to death she quickly turned around, making a short strident "ah" sound, only to find a man wearing a helmet… He took it off and she could now clearly see his shaved head. Grinning from ear to ear she mumbled: "Oh hey Nate!"  
He walked over to a snowmobile, handing her a helmet and then said: "Hop on"  
"I'd love to, but I have to wait for the others " She replied  
"oh come on, they wont mind…" He said.  
"I really have to wait for them, they might get worried."   
"…Please…" He said, Making a sad puppy face.  
Allegra looked back,then looked at Nate and put the helmet on her head   
"Al-ri-i-ight!" Nate said enthusiastically  
"Let's go baby" Allegra then screamed as Nate left the city, zooming by the buildings to eventually end up in a forest.

It was a gorgeous day. The trees were beautiful, all green and snowy with the sun making the glossy snow glisten and sparkle. As Nate made his way through the shimmering trees, Allegra held on tightly to his muscular body, feeling his warmth, and slowly realizing how much she appreciated his presence. Every time he showed up her face was illuminated, she really liked this guy. "Is this what love feels like?" She asked herself "_Oh my god!_ Is this _really_ love?" This last thought almost scared her. He turned his head towards her and gave her a short look, giving her the chance to catch a glimpse of his hazel eyes gleam and twinkle.

She was caught.

There was no way to return now.

She was caught in his web of seduction,...

and nothing felt better.

She tightened her hold on the male boarder gazing with wonder at the beauty of the mountain. She didn't want to let go.

Later on, Nate stopped on the edge of a cliff and two got off to admire a strikingly serene sun setting behind the mountaintops. The rich, multi-colored sky left Allegra in awe with its stunning hues of red, pink, orange and purple all intertwined to create the dazzling décor.   
"Oh my god!" she thought...  
"How beautiful is that!" She said looking at the tranquil scene.  
"I've seen better" Looking at her with a smile  
She looked him in the eye and she was on cloud nine. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world staring at his handsome face as they approached one another and stuck their lips together, kissing tenderly and passionately. Both wished this moment would never end, they longed for each other and quickly developped a deep love for one-another.

Back in the lodge lounge, Moby and Elise were playing "Bloody Roar" on the Gamecube, Psymon watching as Elise was giving the Brit's butt a royal whoopin'. As Gado the Lion was ripping Buzusima the Chameleon in two, Mac walked in with Kaori by his side. Psymon retracted slightly on the couch, hoping to disappear. Moby glared at Mac upon entering as the american gave him a what-the-hell-do-you-want look. Moby turned back around towards the television, ignoring the presence of the others in the now, in his opinion, crowded room. Mac and Kaori sat down at the table, talking loudly and annoyingly. Moby chose his next character and so did Elise…

"Hey look K, there's a new kind of _GAY-torade_!" Mac stated, pointing in a magazine.

The veins on Moby's forehead grew larger as he breathed heavily, anger building up. Psymon covered his face with a large pillow, hoping to die, now. The guys ignored it as best as they could.

After another round of battle Mac spoke loudly again:

"And lookie here, _HOMO-genized_ milk!"  
"Mackie, knock it off" Kaori whispered looking at Psymon

Elise was wondering what the hell was going on as Psymon quickly left the room hearing Mac belt out: "AH,_ FAG-et about it"_  
"_MAC! Stop it_!" the Japanese girl hissed.

At this point everything got on Moby's nerves, the stressing music from the game, blinking lights, also from the game, the magazine pages being turned loudly and the unwelcome ass named Mac

Seeing the anger on Moby's face, Elise asked Moby: "What _is_ he doing?" pointing at Mac.  
"Getting himself in a _shitload_ of trouble" answered Moby in an assured tone.  
"He's emphasizing _something_... about _somebody_..." She said with a raised eyebrow.  
She looked at him in silence as he looked at her face quietly.  
"Don't look at me!" He said quickly  
"Who is it, _WHO IS IT!" _she said not realizing it was the other Canadian competing who just left minutes before.  
Moby, practically cornered by Elise, had no choice but to tell her Psymon's secret. As he was about to open his mouth, he was saved by Allegra who just walked into the lounge.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?" Elise yelled loudly, almost _shoving_ Moby out of the way.  
"_What_?" Allegra said as she instantly left her lovebird trance.  
Kaori and Elise approached her as the blonde boarder continued:  
"We waited all _god-damned _day for you at the bottom; we didn't know what the hell happened to you! We wasted our day worrying, we _even_ reported your absence to mountain patrol!" She said as Kaori nodded furiously with her eyebrows in a slightly flattened "V" formation.  
"I'm sorry, it's just that Nate came and asked me to ride with him on the snowmobile."  
"Well you could have told us! We were scared! Said Kaori in a hasty, aggravated voice.  
"Sorry, I truly am sorry, but something so fantastic happened to me…"   
"Whatever" Elise snorted, leaving the room, Kaori following closely behind   
Allegra followed them yelling: "No, wait, I'm sorry,... but let me explain!"  
Leaving a very angry Moby alone with a now very worried Mac…

end of chapter 6


	7. American idiot

Chapter 7 American Idiot

Moby looked directly at Mac, advancing towards him slowly with tension running all through his body. Mac avoided eye contact at all cost staying motionlessly at the table. Moby leaned in inches in front of Mac's face and said in a very angry, but _unbelievably_ calm voice: "Listen here, you damn _shithead_, that bloke's me mate, you fuck with him one more time and I'm gonna mess you up big time! Your gonna be sore in body parts _you didn't even know you had._ I'm gonna pound your face till the cows come home, you insignificant piss-face. _Got it_?"

Mac hurried to get up and leave the room but as he passed through the door, he turned around and informed:"Who died and made you king, dawg. I'm not scared of you."

Moby, now alone and really pissed off, turned off the fighting game as well as the television and headed to his room to clear his head. He passed a room where the three girls had gone, now talking more calmly. He climbed the stairs slowly wondering if Psymon would be found in their room or not. Arriving at door 306, Moby got his keycard out, swiping it through the lock and then pushing the door open. Psymon was inside, lying on his bed, watching "What Not to Wear". When he noticed Moby entering, he turned off the television and let out a forced "Hey".  
"Hey" Moby answered back  
"What's goin' on in the lounge?"  
"Everybody left."  
Psymon said nothing. Moby sat down on his bed, facing the Canadian. He then spoke up softly:  
"Why don't you stand up to him?" He asked Psymon  
Psymon looked at Moby without answering after a few moments he answered.  
"I don't know..."  
"He's just a wimp; don't let him walk all over you…" The Brit replied   
"I guess I just don't wanna get him pissed off, or whatever, he would go and tell everyone and I _really don't _want that to happen. When he does things like that I feel like a little defenseless kid, I can't explain."  
"Hate to rain on your parade, but weither you stick up for yourself or not, he's gonna tell everyone. You can't let him degrade you like this, stop letting him run your life."  
Psymon said nothing but sat up on his bed, facing Moby.  
"…Do I act like a fag?" he asked His roommate with a worried face.  
"No, of course not" He answered. "Why?"  
"Well how the hell did Mac find out? Either he figured it out... or he heard us talking, which is unlikely cause we'd have heard someone, right?" Psymon asked  
"Well he must have heard us because he wouldn't be acting this way if he didn't know for sure."

"That prick" Psymon let out.

After a short silence Psymon spoke again: "Does it bother you that I'm… the way I am"  
Moby thought for a second, before saying: "Not at all, what you do in your bedroom doesn't concern me… Unless we're sharing a room… and I'm in it."  
Psymon gave a short laugh and then said: "Okay"

At that moment there was a knock on the door, Moby got up and answered; it was Zoë.

"Hey can I use your bathroom? Mine needs to be fixed and the lodge hasn't called a plumber yet." Lie. She just wanted to see Psymon... And her plan worked.

"_Hey you!_" She let out in a flirty tone. "What's up?"  
"Hi, nothing much, I…" Psymon started before being interrupted by Moby.  
"Bathroom's that way, luv!" Moby informed her.  
"Oh, yeah, hehehe" She mumbled.  
"Man, She's obsessed!" he thought as he figured out her intention of visiting Psymon. "Poor girl… " ... "OH MY GOD!"  
He turned around to see the shut bathroom door and then quickly approached Psymon, speaking low so Zoë wouldn't hear him.   
"Tomorrow is Zoë's birthday! I _completely_ forgot to get her something! She's gonna _kill_ me!" Moby said in a near-panic voice.  
"Well calm down, eh! Look, if we leave now, _and I mean now_, we might be able to find a store that's open" Psymon said as he looked at his watch.  
The two looked at each other and Psymon started once again: "Do we just leave her here... Or what?"  
Moby tried to come up with something quick but improvising wasn't his strong point:  
"Uh, we left the stove on in the kitchen, and, uh… me and Psymon are going to turn it off,... and we'll be back in an hour!" He was even worse at lying than Zoë was. Psymon gave him a screwed-up "What the hell?" face.  
"HUH!" She yelled in the bathroom.  
Psymon took over: "We're going to Blockbuster, Horror flick sound good?"   
"Hey wait! I wanna come too!" She answered. By the time she got out, the room was empty.  
"Oh great guys, thanks!" She though, still not believing that the two boys actually abandoned her. She looked around the cluttered room and then checked out in the hall, to find absolutely nobody. She came back into the room, sat on Psymon's bed and then layed in it. She wrapped herself in his bed sheets and realized this would be the perfect time to explore a bit. She got up from the bed and walked across the floor with clothes scattered all over the place. She spotted a white tank top belonging to Psymon and decided to try on the oversized garment. The smell from the shirt was a lovely one. It was masculine but delicate, sweet but virile. Zoë was truly entranced.

There was a knock at the door and, without thinking, Zoë answered it. It was Marisol  
"Here I… ZOE?... Uh,... wel...l anyway this is Psymon's sweater; he left it in my room, could you give it to him?"  
"Uh, okay" Zoë said as the latin girl handed her the grey sweater with a monkey on the front and a banana on the sleeve  
"What are you doing wearing Psymon's tank top?..." Marisol asked  
"What are _you_ doing with Psymon's sweater in your room?" Zoe responded, looking at her with a mind-your-own-buisness glance   
"Chica, don't even start _that_ with me! We were talking in my room earlier today and he took it off and forgot it."  
"Oh" Zoë mumbled.  
Marisol turned around to leave, thinking to herself: "_Freak_!"  
The American girl shut the door and continued her search. She looked into his suitcase and started moving stuff around, exploring his luggage.   
"Hmmmm, so he _does_ wear jock-straps!" She thought to herself laughing  
She continued going through clothes and _undergarments_ until she stumbled upon a package of photographs. She made sure she was alone and then opened the package. She guessed they were about a year old because Psymon had his older haircut in them. By the looks of them, one could easily guess that they were from his hometown of Saskatoon, just by looking at the scenery. There was one picture of him and a girl, who had to be his sister, they looked so much alike, another of a family meal, one of Psymon and a huge fluffy sheep-dog, one of Psy on a BMX and one of him with bunch of friends and a pack of all-terrain vehicles. The last picture was one of Psymon driving an all terrain vehicle, smiling from ear to ear, with an unrecognizable passenger holding on to him,... tightly. "Who is that _chick_ holding on to _my_ Psymon? God, Nike sweaters are _so_ passé. Damn helmet, now I'll never know what she looks like" She thought.

She heard a noise. Immediately, she put the photos back, took off the shirt and looked out into the hall. There was nobody there. "There's never anybody in these damn halls." She thought laughing at herself. She figured she better leave, not wanting to invade privacy too much, planning to finish reading her novel instead of waiting for the guys who left to god-knows-where. She left the room and walked down the hall.

Zoë was completely oblivious to Psymon's "nature". Unlike some of the other competitors, she had no idea. And if she did, she'd be absolutely crushed.

Another little fact about Zoe was that she never looked at the back of photos, but it's not a bad habit to pick up, because had she tonight, she would have seen, behind that last picture, the name "Ethan" written down surrounded by a flock of hearts.

As she walked up the stairs, she missed the last step and fell flat on her face.  
"Man, I must be the unluckiest girl in the world!" She said.  
Luckily there was nobody to witness her fall,... or her truly ironic (and true) statement.

end of chapter 7


	8. What Are You Waiting For

Chapter 8 What Are You Waiting For?

As Zoë regained her room, she sat on her bed, got comfortable and opened her nearly-finished Stephen King novel. She then grabbed her stereo remote and turned it on to hear the sounds of her favorite rock anthems. "Ah Nirvana, you're so good to me" she thought. 

Elise Riggs, staying in the room just below Zoë, didn't agree however. "Not that _crap_ again, Dammit!" she thought angrily as she flipped through one of her magazines from her insanely vast collection. She laid her eye upon a centerfold depicting many gorgeous supermodels showing off a designer's latest creations and, with her body _overflowing_ with jealousy, she immediately closed the magazine and threw it on the floor.  
"I'm just as good as those sluts… not even… I'm _better!_ Why don't they see that? Am I the only one who realizes who great I am?" She thought, getting up to look at herself in the bathroom mirror.  
She looked at herself for a long time, noticing every imperfection she needed to correct.  
"I'm a friggin' athlete for god sakes, they can't find anyone in better shape, why the hell was I rejected" she thought. "Oh, no Miss Riggs, Miss Marisol Diaz Delgado is_ sooooo _much more attractive then you are... , and smarter... , and sexier... _annnnndddd_ she looks better half-naked on the front of a damn car!" She commented furiously to herself as she looked in the mirror, not satisfied to see that her body wasn't perfect.  
"Oh, no, no, no! Miss Riggs busts her ass on the slopes every day but she's still a fat cow! Yep that's right, she's not right for us, we'd rather the Latina slut! She's what we want!" ... "_GO TO HELL_!" she thought, almost seeming possessed. 

"I need to be thinner…"

Elise was truly obsessed; no one had ever seen this side of her. Her insane struggle to be perfect at any cost had pushed her to near-depression. With the mini Woodstock upstairs now over, She exited the bathroom to then _collapse_ on her bed. The pressure this girl imposed onto herself was unbearable. She was weak, mentally and physically. _This had to stop_… she decided, but that was easier said then done. 

That night Elise cried herself to sleep. Silently, as not to wake up Allegra.

The next morning was representative of Elise's spirits as she awoke: Dark, grey, rainy, cloudy and basically crap. "Nice out, eh?" She let out sarcastically to her roommate who had awoken at almost exactly the same time as Elise. Allegra said nothing as she lazily rolled around in bed. Elise took her shower and got dressed only to find the other girl in exactly the same position she had left her in. 

"Hey! Woohoo! Mrs. Logan! Time to get up! If we don't get breakfast now, the caff's not gonna serve us, it's already friggin' late and I'm starving!"

Allegra got up and, without even thinking, decided to go eat in her Tweety Bird PJs. The pair wobbled down the hall, still very sleepy, to find an empty caffs since everyone had eaten already and where off doing whatever.  
Tanya Lee, the cafeteria cook noticed the two late arrivals:  
"Hey girls, we didn't know if you were comin' or not, but we kept you some stuff anyhow, hope you like beans, wieners and quiche that's all we have... _CLEETUS, WARM UP THE QUICHE_!" She hacked, rendering the girls half deaf.

The two girls sat down at the nearest table, not particularly overjoyed to see what was on their plate. As they ate, Kaori arrived, who made it clear that she had looked all over the whole lodge for them.  
"So what do you two have planned for today?" Kaori asked.  
"I dunno,… whatever…" Elise stated very dully.  
"Wow, _your_ enthusiastic today." Said Kaori  
Elise gave her a "Die!" look.  
"Well, _I_ plan to spend my day with the _very_ wonderful and _very_ handsome Nate Logan." Allegra pointed out.  
"Again!" Kaori let out with a snicker.  
"_Why_ does that not surprise me" Elise let out on a very dull tone  
"And then of course that awesome party tonight!" Allegra stated with a very playful smile  
"Oh that's true! I almost forgot! Oh, it's going to be so much fun! I bought a new outfit and everything, and I have to say, _Ka-waii_!" Said the Japanese girl.  
"Moby has been planning it for months." Allegra explained.  
"What was it for again?" Elise inquired.  
The three girls looked at each other, completely stumped…  
"Oh, yeah… Zoë's birthday" Elise said in a very bored voice   
"That's true… I saw him last night with Psymon and they were going to the mall; He was so busy planning the whole party he forgot to get her a gift." Kaori let out.  
"Well anyway I'm sure _you two_ will have a _great_ time, being matched up and all" Elise said in a "pity-me" voice.  
"Elise, _come on_! You're hot! You'll have no problem hooking up with a guy tonight. There's gonna be lots to choose from, I even heard some of Psymon's friend are coming from Saskatchewan and are gonna stay a while to see him compete." Allegra said to the Canadian girl with a smirk.  
"Saskatchewan, pffff. The only thing there is in Saskatchewan is wheat!" Elise thought

As they brought their treys to dishwashing headquarters, Elise said: "Anyway, I'll be right back… Bathroom break"  
"Ok" Kaori smilled  
…   
A little while after Elise was gone Allegra looked at kaori with a strange look on her face.  
"What?..." Kaori asked  
"Don't you find that weird?"  
"What?"   
"Every meal I have with that girl is followed by a trip to the bathroom; she does it with you too right?"  
"I havn't noticed." Kaori admitted.  
"Oh, come on! Jeeze, I'm almost worried." Allegra said  
"What do you think is going on?"  
"I don't know" Allegra answered. She noticed Elise was coming back. "But next time one of us is going to follow her."

With that the three girls continued their day, preparing for the greatly anticipated party. One of which Zoë knew nothing about.

end of chapter 8


	9. We Are Family

Chapter 9 We Are Family

Moby stepped out of his car parked in front of the airport and he and Psymon got out. "Thanks for the ride" Said Psymon.  
"No problem, mate" Moby replied.  
They sat in the airport awaiting the arriving flight 29874 from Saskatoon. 

"Zoë's gonna be speechless tonight; you really did a good job keeping the party a secret" Psymon pointed out.  
"It was a lot of preparation, I hope she enjoys it"  
"Of course she will, eh."  
"So who exactly are you expecting today anyway?"  
"My sister and brother, Katherine and Dominic, and Ethan… my boyfriend." Answered Psymon, blushing a little.  
"Your _boyfriend_? I thought you said you weren't sure if you were gay or not." Replied Moby with a smirk and thinned eyes  
"Well, before we were just fooling around and it wasn't very serious and I didn't really think I liked guys for sure… but after being separated I realize how much I missed him and that I really liked him. And we've been swapping e-mails and he agreed to come out here to see me and that's really special to me." Said Psymon.  
"Wow." Let out Moby, trying to figure out a plan to keep Zoë from finding out that Psymon was gay and even had a boyfriend and that he and Zoe had no chance of a future together. It was almost inevitable. She was going to find out and he would have to pick up all the pieces of her broken heart. He was doomed.

The plane arrived.

The two boys got up and approached the entrance of the airport… they watched as people got off the plane: an old lady, a woman and her little boy, a fat guy with a big beard,... and then a tall gorgeous girl with long brown hair, dressed like the models in Elise's magazines, stepped out of the plane and raised her 80's style shades to get a better look around. She stared all around with her crystal blue eyes until she finally spotted her little brother. As soon as she saw him, she started screaming, shaking her arms furiously, shoving people out of the way to get to him. She was followed by two guys, who unlike her, didn't look a thing like Psymon.  
"PSYMON, oh my god I missed you!" She said, jumping in his arms.  
"I missed you too Kat!"  
"He-hey there little bro!" Said the first guy, shaking his hand and putting his arm around Psymon's neck.  
"Hey Dom! How are ya!" Psymon asked  
"Not too bad, it was a damn long flight, i'm so glad it over, jeeze!"   
Psymon's brother was HUGE. He was about 6'3" and his muscularity was highly developed. He had dirty blonde hair, light brown eyes and had a little reddish-blonde goatee. Moby would have never imagined Psymon's brother would look like that.  
The other boy waited patiently for Psymon to greet his family before saying:  
"Don't I get a hug too? I mean _come on_! I _am_ your boyfriend ya know!" with a big smile  
Again Moby would have never imagined Psymon's boyfriend to look like he did, and to be honest, Moby also never imagined Psymon _having_ a boyfriend. Ethan was little on the short side, He almost looked like a midget beside Dominic. He had wavy black hair that was just long enough to cover his ears, granny smith apple green eyes that were surprisingly bright, cheerful, calming and mesmerizing at the same time. There was a certain charm about the boy, maybe it was because of the combination of little dimples, perfectly trimmed eyebrows and soul patch on his chin that made him so good-looking. Moby had never seen anyone who looked as serene as Ethan

Moby found it really odd to see his friend in the arms of another guy. Even if he _knew_ Psymon was gay, it was a shock to his system to actually _see_ that he was gay.

"You know what, I missed ya, you Cutie." Psymon whispered in Ethan's ear  
"I missed you too, BooBoo!" Ethan answered, leaning in for a kiss.   
"BOOBOO, HAHAHAHAHA!" Let out Moby, who couldn't hide his laughter, speaking for the first time since the arrival of the stark siblings.   
Psymon looked at Ethan and the two smiled as Psymon blushed in embarrassment   
"Hey everyone, this is Moby. He's a good friend of mine and he's also one of the other competitors"  
Everyone turned towards him to shake hands and then the group moved to the luggage pick-up area.

"You too are _sooo_ cute together" said Kat, smiling as the two lovers looked at each other and then smiled as well; Moby and Dom were discussing video games.  
"So um, Ethan, once we get to the party and while were at the lodge, we can't get too close okay, I havn't told people i'm gay yet." Said Psymon  
"You havn't? Why not?" inquired Katherine.  
"Ya well why don't you just come out?" Said Ethan  
"Yeah... well i dunno how people are gonna take it. I'm afraid people will stop talking to me."  
"Bullshit!" said Dominic "Don't tell me you're afraid! Fear is your biggest motivator! and besides even if you are a loser, people wont stop talking with you. And besides if they don't expect it, screw them."   
"Yeah I suppose..." Said Psymon, afraid to reveal his true self.   
"Well look baby, If you don't wan't us to look like a couple that's OK" Said Ethan, a little disappointed but understanding.  
During the whole conversation Moby was out in the parking lot trying to figure out how to put the first couple of bags in his car without taking up too much space  
"Shit, shit, shit! Psymon's boyfriend.. Oh god how am i gonna keep Zoe from finding out! Dammit!"

After discussing boarding schedules, competitor particularities, how the family was doing and home baked goodies from mom in a certain big brother's suitcase,all this while waiting forever for the luggage, the group hopped in the car, stuffing the bags in Moby's trunk. 

Moby looked at his watch.  
"Oh Damn, is it noon already?"  
Dominic's stomach roared furiously. He looked up at everyone and answered: "Yep!" with a smile, making everyone laugh.  
Moby stopped the car outside the hotel where the visitors where going to be staying, letting them out and helping them with their baggage. Once everyone had their stuff in their room, they all moved to Kat and Dom's room to eat what they picked up at the Chinese drive-thru. Almost as soon as everyone got comfortable Moby spoke:   
"Well I gotta run, I still have to pick up the liquor, and set up the tables, and contact the DJ, and…"  
"Okay!" said Psymon, laughing "We get the picture! Just come and pick us up at six OK?"  
"No problem!" Said Moby, waving goodbye to the four Canadians.

As he got to his car, Moby opened his Mcom to leave Zoë a message: 

_Hey Zo, __  
__Sry i wasn't able to c u on yur birthday much, we'll spend time togetha tonight tho, i promise. __  
__we got u presents hehehe __  
__ttyl, __  
__Moby _

And with that he started his engine, flying through the city, making his way to the mountain lodge to finish preparing Zoe's secret bash. 

end of chapter 9


	10. Gossip Folks

Chapter 10 Gossip Folks

Allegra, picking at one of her numerous guitars, was sitting in the lounge beside Elise who was, to nobody's surprise, reading a magazine. As Allegra played "California Dreamin'" on her cherry red electric guitar, Elise suddenly jerked her head quickly towards Allegra, staring at her intensely, her mind wandering. Allegra a bit freaked out stopped strumming and looked at the Canadian boarder who seemed to want to say something. After a while of silently staring each other down, Elise tranquilly turned her head towards her magazine, as if nothing had happened. Allegra looked puzzled as she continued to watch Elise with a wtf face, who soon turned her head back towards the other girl, not knowing how to express herself. Allegra desperately wanting to shatter the silence quietly said  
"What, do I have something in my teeth?" She said as she picked between her teeth.  
"Somebody's gay"  
"WHAT?" Allegra replied instantly with a screwed-up expression.  
"Somebody's gay and I don't know who it is, I don't know how I found out, and I don't know _why_ I found out." Elise answered in a monotone voice, a blank expression on her face and a semi-presence that gave the illusion that she was lost in her thoughts.  
"Well… uh… do you know _when_ you found out?" Asked Allegra.  
"Not even, all I know is that one of the competitors is gay and it's a guy."  
"Hmmm… It's probably Brodi, that would explain the tight shirts… or maybe that Viggo guy, he seemed… odd…" She laughed "Or maybe both and they're dating, hahaha!" Allegra let out, laughing.   
Elise didn't answer. Her face was emotionless and she didn't seem to react to anything, she just looked forward with a dumb expression.   
Allegra continued to play her guitar alongside a motionless Elise, gazing into space.

Nate came in and Allegra's face illuminated.  
"There you are, sexy; I've been looking for you all over the place." Nate said  
"Really?" She asked smiling like a dumb six-year-old  
"Of course! You coming?" He asked as he dangled his car keys  
"Sure, where are we goin'?"  
"To the mall, I need to pick up a few things"  
"Ok, just let me go get my purse" She stated enthusiastically  
And with that the two had left Elise, swimming in her thoughts all by herself, who was trying to remember details about her discovery. 

Zoë walked in, in a horrible mood, and turned on the Gamecube. She mumbled under her breath sentences that only had a few comprehensible words that resembled:"… can't even……my frikin birthday…..jeeze…."  
As she was in her last lap, she gained first place and as she was approaching the finish line something broke her concentration… 

"MOBY!" Elise shouted out

Zoë almost shit her pants; she hadn't even noticed the other competitor was in the room with her. As her car flew in the ditch, an unaware Zoë replied:  
"JESUS, what the hell?"  
Elise, finally snapping out of her trance, looked embarrassed and didn't answer anything  
"What about Moby?" Zoë asked.  
"He knows" Elise said, nodding as if everything was crystal clear " …He knows who the guy is and he wont tell me …or… it could even be him,... eh?"  
"That makes as much sense as a bunny with a pancake on its head" Zoe said blankly,"What does he know? What,_ what_?... what is… goin' on?" Said Zoë completely lost.  
Elise took a deep breath to concentrate on her story  
"I found out the other day that one of the male competitor was gay because Mac was making fun,… but… that doesn't make sense…unless…well anyhow, Moby knows who it is and I imagine Mac does too…" Elise blurted out.  
Zoe took this all in and then said: "Well I'll have to ask Moby some time, I'll tell you if I find anything out. But you know, it's probably Brodi or that new blonde guy that looks as queer as a 3-dollar-bill."  
"Yeah but Moby doesn't really talk to them much, does he?" Elise asked   
"Well… no, but the things that guy knows are almost scary, he a walking encyclopedia, he knows everything…. " Answered Zoë.  
"But something seems wrong, I'm missing something, _it doesn't make sense…_" Said Elise.  
"Well, I gotta check to see if I have any messages, talk to you later." Said Zoë, as she left to reach her room.

Alone once again Elise regained her motionless "pensive" mode. After re-enacting the situation in her head several times, it finally clicked.

_"PSYMON!"_ She yelled with a smile, then screaming and holding her hands to her mouth.

By this time Zoë was out of ear's reach and heard nothing of Elise's discovery. She walked up the stairs thinking about how crappy her birthday was so far. She got to her room, the most secluded one, furthest in the building, and then opened her door. Her Mcom was on the bed with a little "new message" light blinking, there where two of them awaiting her. The first one was from Allegra who wanted to know what song was playing the night before at about 11:57.  
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" She said, wondering why the world was over-populated with stupid people. Moby hadn't come to see her yet and it was already past supper time, nobody from her family had called yet and the cherry on the sundae: she was P.M.S.ing.  
"Could you imagine a worse birthday." She said as she pressed buttons furiously, answering Allegra's message, saying she would lend her the CDs and she would give her the titles of the ones she liked. Then Zoë opened the second message, Moby's.

... 

"Well, at least he remembered it was my B-day" She thought, turning her Mcom off.

It was a little past six o'clock and Zoë was laying on her bed, her arms stretched out wide, staring at the ceiling, trying to clear out her head…

There was a knock at the door.

"Jesus Christ... " She thought in a pissed off tone

end of chapter 10


	11. Waiting For Tonight

Chapter 11 Waiting For Tonight

Zoë wobbled across her room and looked through the peep hole wondering "What now?"

She spotted Psymon.

The door flew open at an impressive speed revealing the widest smile Zoë had ever given yet. The small mob in the hallway yelled "Happy Birthday" as Moby leaned in for a hug, and then Psymon. While Zoë Held him in her arms, an all-out bash was taking place in her head. She was on cloud 9. As Brodi would say, it was nirvana. Along with her two buddies, were three strangers. They hugged her as well wishing her once again a happy birthday.  
"I don't know who you are, but thanks!" Zoë said laughing, forgetting her horrible mood of minutes before. Psymon spoke up:   
"These are my closest buds! My big brother Dominic…"  
"Hey!" Dominic let out.  
"Hey, nice to meet you!"  
"You can call me Dom"

"Oh no! If he tells her about Ethan she's gonna die, no this isn't happening, not on her birthday!" Moby thought to himself holding his face in his hands.

"This is my sister Katherine"  
"Katherine, huh, I should have known you were his sister you look so much alike!" Said Zoë  
"We get that a lot, and you can call me Kat"  
"Wow, your family's really friendly Psymon" Said Zoe

"Shit, shit, shit!" Moby thought "She's gonna cry for months…" 

"And this is Ethan…" Said Psymon

Time seemed to have stopped. Moby listened holding his breath, wishing something would cut off Psymon's sentence: a fire alarm, a tranquilizing blow dart, a meteorite, _anything_.

"…My… cousin" Finished Psymon  
"Nice to meet you!"  
"Nice to meet you too, and... _you_ can call _me_ Ethan"   
Everyone laughed.

Moby, after realizing nothing happened like we thought it would, sighed in relief, laughed along with everyone and then said: "and you can call_ him _Booboo!" pointing to Psymon.  
While everyone was laughing Zoe yelled out:  
"Booboo! Hahaha! What the hell?"  
"It was my nickname as a kid, it's so dorky!". Said Psymon, scratching his neck  
"Well come on in everyone, there's lots of room since I'm alone up here, hehehe" Zoe explained  
Everyone sat down and Psymon handed a gift to Zoë that was obviously a CD 

"Here I got you something I thought you'd like…"  
"Thanks that's really nice" Said Zoë looking at her "love interest" almost teary eyed at his offering.  
She unwrapped the gift revealing a disk entitled "Superbeautifulmonster"   
"OH MY GOD, BIF! How did you know I wanted this! Oh my god!" Zoë exclaimed.  
"Wild guess" said Psymon with a little smirk, who knew Zoe idolized Bif Naked.  
Zoë pounced on Psymon giving him a big hug; they both laughed.  
The American boarder's hold on the Canadian was relatively long. Psymon looked over Zoe's shoulder at his boyfriend who was on the other side of the room giving him the raised-brow look; Psymon replied with a it's-not-me face.  
"I got you something too, luv" Said Moby, putting end to the awkward moment.  
He handed her a bag with pink and orange stripes and lots of birthday ribbon.  
As she furiously ripped the tissue out of the bag, not listening to anybody, concentration etched on her face, Moby spoke:  
"Psymon helped me pick everything out; we went shopping at the last minute." He said laughing.  
"Psymon, … shopping?… NEVER!…" Said Dom sarcastically, making everyone laugh but Zoë, who wasn't listening. Psymon gave him a "shut-up-you-foolish-dork" look.  
"Oh my god! A black tank top with fishnets!" Zoë yelled out  
"Keep Looking" Said Moby  
"Wow! Puzzle pants!"  
"Keep Looking"  
"Nice! Pink Converses! Yeahhh!"  
"Keep Looking"  
After Zoë had found the hoop earrings and arm warmer that completed the outfit, she was ecstatic. "I can't accept this, its way too much, it must have cost you a fortune!"  
"Don't worry about it!" Moby assured her "Go try everything on"

Zoë came out of the bathroom, were she had started her new CD. Fully dressed in her new attire, she pranced around the room to the sounds of "Let Down", Bif's latest single  
"Girl, you are rockin'" Said Ethan  
"Girl, that is nice" Said Kat  
"_Girl_, you could have taken the tags off" Said Dom ripping a price tag off Zoe's back, once again making everyone laugh.

"Your gonna look awesome tonight, luv" Said Moby  
"Huh? Tonight? What's goin on tonight?" Inquired Zoe  
Moby and Psymon looked at each Other as they put their plan into work.   
"You and I are going to the restaurant of your choice, my treat" Said Moby in a game show announcer voice to an overjoyed Zoe  
"No way! Get out of town! You've already gotten me enough already!"   
"Come now, it's rude to refuse a gift!"  
"Um, just you and I?" asked Zoe Smiling wondering if Psymon was joining them.  
"Yes, just you and I" He answered with a smirk

And with that, everyone left, Zoe and Moby to Red Lobster and Psymon and his Saskatoon friends to the caff, to eat and to remind everyone there to come to the party.

As they feasted on cheeseburgers, Psymon noticed Elise watching him. She was with Allegra, who turned around and looked at him as well and turned back around as if to tell Elise to stop staring. Ethan reached out to hold Psymon's hand but was surprised to see him pull away.   
"What gives?" Ethan said  
"We're being watched…"

"Elise, stop it!" Allegra hissed  
"I wanna know for sure!" Said Elise  
"So what if he is, who cares!"  
"I do! I know it's him, it's gotta be!" Answered Elise "HEY PSYMON! COME HERE!" She yelled  
"Oh god, you're not gonna ask him are you?"  
"_Relax_… I know what I'm doing"

Psymon approached slowly

"Hey, Psymon, I'm doing a crossword puzzle and I need your help." Elise said in a little girl voice  
"Uh, Ok" Said Psymon, as Allegra crossed her arms looking at Elise, mumbling: "Oh, for the love of god…"  
"Ok, 1, who designed this bag" She said pointing to an advertisement in her magazine.  
"Channel"   
"Of course! Ok, 2, Which hockey team won the Stanley cup last year?"   
"Uh… the… Toronto Raptors?  
"Oh, sorry. No" She said giving Allegra a "See, what did I tell you?" smirk.  
"3, Who plays the sexy gardener in desperate housewives?"  
"Jesse Metcalf, duh"  
"Your right! 4, What kind of car is this?" Once again pointing to a magazine  
"...A... red one?" Psymon guessed  
"Hmmm, not quite, 5, who won Dancing with the Stars?"  
"Kelly Monaco, Elise I can't believe you don't know this stuff!"  
"She does" mumbled Allegra who only Elise heard.  
"Well you know me, I'm just a dumb blonde" Elise said as she laughed. 

Something was going on, Psymon knew it. If there was one thing he knew about Elise was that she wasn't stupid.

"Uh, I have guests to join, I'll talk to you later, and if you guys are coming to the party go to the conference room in 15 minutes" said Psymon quickly, wanting to leave.  
"Oh, one last question!" said Elise  
Psymon turned around cautiously  
"Is he your boyfriend?" Elise asked with a very wide smile, pointing to Ethan.  
"_ELISE_" Allegra hissed in disbelief.  
Psymon's jaw dropped. He looked around to see if someone was listening and then faced Elise.  
"Who told you?"  
"Nobody, sweetie, it's just really obvious…" Elise said with a wink   
Allegra shaked her head, looking at Psymon who looked obviously shook.   
"Don't listen to her, it's not _obvious_, don't worry. I have nothing against you and we won't tell anyone" Allegra said, turning to Elise and saying in tone of superiority: "_Right?"_   
Elise sighed and nodded.

Psymon didn't answer, but turned around and left the caff hastily, with Ethan trying to catch up with him to see what was wrong

"_Relax_ she says,… look what you did now!" Allegra said as they watched Kat and Dom follow the boys out of the room

end of (the long) chapter 11


	12. Music

Chapter 12 Music

"_shhhhhhut_! Listen!"  
…   
the door swung open as Zoe peeked her head into the room

"_SURPRISE_" the small mob cried out in unison

"_What th'hell?" _Zoe yelled in the pure silence as everyone screamed out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Zoe's jaw dropped onto the floor. As two complete strangers put a tiara on her head, a pink feather boa on her shoulders, a baton in her hand and a sash acrost her chest that read "Birthday-a-licious babe", she analyzed the situation: Happy B-Day Zoë banners, balloons galore, thrusting music and bodies moving everywhere to the rhythm. 

"_YOU_! OH MY GOD! I can't believe you! NO NO NO! MOBY! YOU ROCK! Zoe said at the top of her lungs so Moby could hear her through the music.  
"No Problem, luv, I was the least I could do… by the way, vodka's over there" Moby replied. He laughed as she gave him a salute and made a beeline towards the bar.

Moby made his way threw the crowd, looking for somebody he knew, dancing briefly with the occasional gorgeous babe, until he finally spotted Elise dancing à la coyote ugly on a table with Kaori and Allegra. As eye contact was made between Moby and Elise, the girls descended to greet the party thrower.  
"HEY MOBY!"  
"HEY GIRLS!" he replied "WOW, KA, NEW LEG WARMERS!"  
"YOU NOTICED? HEHE, I THINK THEY'RE SUPER SWEET!" Replied the Japanese girl as she blushed a little.  
"THIS PARTY KICKS ASS!" Yelled Elise to the Brit.  
"JEOPARDY SUCCESS? KEN JENNINGS! WHAT ABOUT HIM?" Answered Moby in confusion.  
"NO,….. THIS PARTY…...KICKS ASS……!"  
"…DICKS…, ASS….? ELISE!" Said Moby, not understanding what the Canadian was saying.  
"_NEVERMIND!" _Elise blurted out.  
"NO! _YOU'RE_ THE ONE WITH THE DIRTY MIND!"  
Elise rolled her eyes.

Allegra then spoke: "I'M GONNA GO LOOK FOR NATE!"  
"OK, I'LL GONNA GO JOIN DJ MACKIE, HEHEHE, I'M SURE HE'LL PLAY SOME GWEN FOR ME!" Yelled Kaori. The pair left.

Just as Elise had suspected she was alone with nobody to dance with her. Surprise, surprise. She looked at Moby, who seemed proud that his bash was a success, pulled out her pocket mirror, checked her shimmering lips and then said:  
"you look like a guy that likes to dance…, wanna?"  
"Sure, luv." Said Moby with a broad smile  
And with that the two moved to the dance floor. People were having a blast. Their were competitors, friends of competitors and even fans of competitors. Though the room was practically filled with strangers, nobody cared. Tonight was all about having fun. 

This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

As Elise and Moby danced furiously, Marisol approached and put her hand on Moby's shoulder:  
"Hey, Moby, Zoe was looking for you… Oh God, don't tell me your Super-Slut's latest victim." Said the Latin girl.  
"Can it sparky! I've got six inch heels with your face as their target!"   
"Chica, don't even start that shit!" said Marisol taking off her left hoop earring.  
"Ladies! Try and be presentable tonight, for the love of Jesus! Ok, where's Zoë?" Said Moby  
"By the bar, duh!" Answered Marisol, giving Elise a bitchy look  
"Ok, I'll be back soon… NO FIGHTING!" Moby warned 

Can you keep up? Baby boy, make me lose my breath!

"Ah come on!" Pleaded Allegra.  
"No way! I hate to dance, besides I have two left feet…" Answered Nate.  
"I don't care! Pleaaasseee? For me!" She insisted.  
"Allegra, I am not dancing, is that clear?"  
"Your no fun" She said as she sat down beside him, laying her head on his shoulder  
"Yeah, well, you still like me don't you" He answered with a little smile  
"Of course" she replied with a snicker, then leaning in for a kiss. 

I like to move it move it! I like to move it move it! 

"Where's Psymon?" Zoë asked Moby as she readjusted her tiara for the thousandth time.  
"Good question, where is Psymon? I haven't seen him all night. I wanted to thank him for helping me prepare this…" Answered Moby.  
"Well, I wanted him to write a little message in his Bif CD, a little part of him I can take with me…" Said Zoe with near-visible hearts in her eyes. "I'm gonna go looking for him, he might be in his room…"  
"Ok" Said Moby, eager to return to Elise.  
As Zoe left the room, Moby returned to the dance floor to look for the blonde boarder who was nowhere to be found in the massive crowd. As he searched, he noticed Dominic who was coming in from the side entrance, his head surpassing everyone else's. Moby made his way towards Psymon's brother and noticed that Kat was with him.  
Before anything else was said Moby inquired: "Where's Psymon?"  
"I dunno… He's off somewhere with Ethan. He's sorta freaking out." Said Dom  
"How come?" Moby asked  
"Because people are finding out that he's… "different". I don't get it why can't he just come out like he did to us..." Said Kat.   
Moby "hmmmmed".

Got me feelin' hella good so I'm gonna keep on dancin'! 

Zoë crossed the hallways and climbed the stairs clutching _Superbeautifulmonster_ in her hands, feeling a little foolish, a little excited, a little shy and a little tipsy wondering what would happen if she and Psymon were alone… on her birthday…and had been drinking…  
She blushed…  
As she walked, she heard a voice around the corner, and although she was nowhere near Psymon's room, it was his.  
"How the hell though, that's what I'd like to know." He said in his deep voice  
Zoe stopped and listened from around the corner. Psymon must have been sitting on the floor, with somebody beside him, from the sounds of things. Psymon sounded really upset.  
She didn't know if she should listen or not, but before her mind was made up the conversation had continued...  
"Look, I don't know baby,… don't freak out, I'm here"  
This time It was Ethan who spoke, Zoë thought, but…_baby_…?   
"I know" Psymon said as Ethan Played in his hair. "But it just really weirds me out, k"  
"I understand, babe, I went through the same thing you know..." Ethan let out.  
"I guess…" Answered Psymon..."…baby…"  
"yeah?" Asked Ethan.  
"I love you."  
Zoe's eyes opened wide as she bit her lip to not gasp out loud. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This couldn't be happening…

"I love you too" Answered Ethan  
"…Come Here…" Said Psymon  
The two where now locking lips.  
In complete disbelief, Zoë turned around the corner, and to her stupor, there was the man of her dreams, kissing another boy. Psymon tried to talk as Zoë became teary-eyed, but his speech was muffled due to the second tongue in his mouth. Panicked, he pushed Ethan away with a quick "get off me" gesture.  
"Zoe, I-…" He started  
"COUSIN, MY ASS!" The girl yelled instantly turning away, obviously broken-hearted.  
She walked away speedily from the boys as her words echoed through the halls. Psymon followed her trying to calm her down, but couldn't keep up, she was already way in front, heading towards her car so she could drive far, _far_ away from here. She threw the tiara on the ground, ripped off the sash and threw the pink boa behind her, toward the Canadian.  
"Here this outta suit you!" She spat out angrily  
"Zoe, please listen-…"  
She ignored him completely, still trying to figure the whole situation in her head. How could she have been so stupid? As she passed by the room where people where celebrating her birthday, Moby spotted her and literally dragged her into the room.

Let me see you 1, 2, step, I love it when you 1, 2, step! 

"DID YOU FIND PSYMON?" Moby yelled out  
"WHAT!"   
"OK, NEITHER HAVE I!"

She tried to figure out what was happening now as he dragged her on stage and put her in front of a microphone. Mac had turned off the music and all eyes where on the "Birthday-a-licious babe".

"Go ahead, say something" Said Moby with a smile.

Zoe was in no condition to speak. She was shaking, rage rising through her body, and she was completely devastated. Her whole world had been turned upside down. Psymon arrived and was standing in the doorframe, catching his breath. She looked at him and with a tear rolling down her cheek said:

"Cocksucker!" 

Zoe covered her mouth now crying like a baby as Moby's grin vanished. She Ran out the side entrance as a heavy silence filled the room and everyone turned towards Psymon, where Zoë had been looking. Psymon looked at the crown that was staring him down and then hurried to leave as well, Dom and Kat following after him. Moby covered his face with his hands, this was Zoë's worst birthday ever, and though it wasn't necessarily his fault, he felt guilty for all the damage that had been done. The music started again and most people continued as if nothing had happened, enjoying the rest of the night. Moby tried to find Zoë but he arrived in the lobby to find Psymon and his family instead

Psymon was trying not to cry as Katherine patted his back and Ethan held his hand.  
"…That bitch has got some nerve! If she thinks she can ridicule you like that in front of a whole bunch of people… Nobody hurts my baby brother!" Kat said protectively

"Have you seen her?" Moby asked Dom…  
"Nope, she was headed towards here… Maybe she left."  
"But that's insane, she wouldn't drive, she's been drinking" said the Brit.

A sudden rush of worry filled Moby as he realized Zoë's car was missing from the parking lot.

end of chapter 12


End file.
